Welcome to the July 2008 edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we focus on the applicability/relevance of lean thinking.

Announcements

We have announced dates for our Fall 2008 Lean Certification Training Program. All classes will take place at the Doubletree Club Hotel Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, CA.

Course	Date
Lean Certification Program	Aug 13, 2008 - November 13, 2008
Introduction to Implementing Lean	Aug 13, 2008
Value Stream Mapping	Aug 14, 2008
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	Sep 10, 2008
Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)	Sep 11, 2008
Creating Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells	Oct 15, 2008
Material Flow and Kanban	Oct 16, 2008
Lean Production Control and Inventory Mgmt.	Nov 12, 2008

Any of the above courses (plus many others) can be brought to your facility and customized to meet your requirements.

Click here for details on all of our training offerings, both on-site at your facility and public.

Is Lean for Everyone?

This month's newsletter discusses the question: Will lean work for any company? There is a lot of debate written about in both print and electronic media regarding the applicability of lean thinking to any manufacturer. Some argue that lean is not needed for companies engaged in "cutting edge" technologies- only for traditional, more competitive industries such as automotive. I think the answer really depends on what "lean" means.

This month we feature four articles that should help you understand the usefulness of lean. First, we discuss our viewpoint on the applicability of lean to any industry. In our second article, we talk about lean basics and an action plan. Our third article talks about the effectiveness of lean in low volume situations. Finally, our fourth article talks about the seven wastes.

The materials referenced in this newsletter will teach you more about lean. If you would like to learn more, feel free to call us at 866-559-5598 or visit our website and click on "Contact Us."

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EMS Consulting Group, Inc. - 7040 Avenida Encinas, Suite 104-189 - Carlsbad, CA 92011